The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-08-24

DEVILS WORK.
New York SUM-

cludes many murders. The death OF
Charles J. Walton. as mentioned in Chi.
csgo papers the other day, recalls the par
tioulars of crime of thirty years ago
which made a great stir at the time, but
which can not now be remembered by
dozen persons. At the time of the murder
Walton was boy eleven years OF age, and
was in the employ OF farmer named John
Cartwright, in Central Illinois. One
rainy day in the fall the two were Smelling
beans in an old barn about half a mile
from the farm house. It had come to be
o'clock in the afternoon, when the farmer,
using bis knife to cut of piece OF tobacco,
let it slip through a crack in the floor.
The boy went outdoors and crawled under
to secure it. 1t was close squeeze for
him, and he had not yet reached the spot
when he heard three men enter the barn.
The sound of their voices proved them
strangers in the neighborhood. The
spokesman said they had come to see if the
farmer had a horse to sell. He replied
that he had not, when one of the men
laughed and said:
Come, old fellow, we don't want horse.
We want to see you dance and hear you
sing"
Cartwright was neither strong nor in
good health, and he was probably afraid of
the men from the first, as the boy noted
that his voice trembled when he spoke. He
dance, but the man who spoke before then
exclaimed:
"Give us song and dance, or well cut
your throsti"
The farmer must have realized that they
meant HIM harm, and he began to beg and
beseech and offer to buy them Off He had
about dollar in change in his pocket, aud
be gave them this, together With knife
and pipe. The trio had no sooner stripped
him than they armed themselves with some
switches used 10 drive the oxen and pro-
ceeded to whip the poor man until his
screams seemed likely to be heard at the
highway half a mile of. Young Walton
was terribly frightened, and he explained
why he did not go for help by saying:
There was no one at our house but Mrs
Courtwrlght, and no neighbor nearer than
a mile and half. AS it was raining, no
one would be likely to be passing on the
road. And, too, there WIS such a lot of
rubbish under the barn that l co1ld not
move without making q great noise, and
felt that they would certainly hear me-
When the farmer began TO shout for
help they knocked him down and gagged
him with handkerchief, and then their
devilish thirst for blood became more ap-
parent. One of them seized the farmers
left hand and coolly and deliberately
broke every finger in succession. Tney
pulled off his boots aud applied Ighted
matches to the soles of his feet, and with
their knives creased the soles in every dir
ection. They at first seemed to delight in
his violent struggles, but finally used
| chains and ropes TO tie hum down. The
man kept up constant groaning, and after
/ time the boy was so overcome with ter
ror that he could not have moved If he so
! desired.
s."When they had kept up their torture
| for about half an hour" he said, "the gag
came loose, and Mr.. Courtwright called
out to them in the name OF God to spare
his life. He offered them $500 he had in
| the bank and deed of his farm If they
| would let him go, but they only Knocked
him. One OF them said il was the greatest
sport he had had in twenty years, and
another said he had always wanted to see
! how much a man could suffer before death
came to relieve him. Most of the time
they had their victim gagged, so that /
could not hear his voice, except as he kept
up a moaning, but sometimes, when the
gag was loosened, he cried ana begged oil
tn EN- in a way to melt your heart"
The cutting and slashing of the farmer
did not satisfy the cruel natures OF the
tormentors. One of them had muzzle
loading pistol, and he loaded il with small
charges of powder, and fred them into the
naked body of Cartwright. Another
stuck his legs full of splinters. These two
| latter mode of punishment furnished the
clue by which the murderers were overhaul
ed. When they had been at their inferna
work for nearly an hour they began to tir'
OF it. The farmer was in dying condi
ton, and they finished him with a knife
The boy heard every word and movement
and he said:
az heard them talk about finishing 'tH,
old fellow of, and there was quite a els
pute as to who should use the knife. l
was finally decided and the fellow sharp
ened the blade on his boot. and then KEEP
tbrustiDg and counting, 'Oae two, three,
and so on up to sixteen, aud these wer
the number counted on the dead body.
was lying on my stomach on the groun'
just under the body, aud the warm bloo'
ran through the cracks on my head AM
shoulders"
AZ soon as the trio had left, the DO!
crawled out to give the alarm, but it was
o'clock ct night before any considerable
number of men had gathered and the pun
suit was taken up. The men were tracks,
to a point north of Pekin, where they stol
horses from q field and headed for Mon
mouth. To the north of that place the.
stole a team and made for the Mississippi
river, and there all traces of them were LOST
1t seems that they stole a sha1ty boat an
started off down the river, and were ne1
the Illinois river. They tied their boat +
the shore and roamed around the countr
in lawless way, and one night farme
shot one of them in the leg as he was rot
biDg the hen-house. The man had pisto
and he fred back at the farmer and missed
1t was then knocked from his grasp, and q
he lay on the ground he gritted his teet
in rage and exclaimed:
'rYou internal hound But how I'd lik
to revenge on you I'd like to shoot 20
full of powder and fill your flesh Wit
. | splinters."
The words caught the farmers attention
He had read OF the murder OF Courtwrigh
and he believed he had one of the meI
Giving the alarm to three or four OF n
nejghbors, they secured the wounded ma
and then set out for the boat house. The
! | were fired on, but when they had kille
one of the men the other surrendered
Being charged with the Cartwright mu
) der, he held out for while, and then col
fessed. Out of the dozen men who had b
this time gathered together not q voice WI
, raised to turn the prisoners over TO tt
3 Sheriff and the law. The one u1hurt W;
{ strung up within half an hour o, ais col
s fession, and the wounded one Estle lat
3 on. When life was extinct the bodi
3 were weighted and sunk In the river. ia
: who the men were was never Known, bl
thew were ruffians of the worst descriDtiO